System and Method for Monitoring and Analyzing Internet Traffic

ABSTRACT

A system and method for monitoring and analyzing Internet traffic is provided that is efficient, completely automated, and fast enough to handle the busiest websites on the Internet, processing data many times faster than existing systems. The system and method of the present invention processes data by reading log files produced by web servers, or by interfacing with the web server in real time, processing the data as it occurs. The system and method of the present invention can be applied to one website or thousands of websites, whether they reside on one server or multiple servers. The multi-site and sub-reporting capabilities of the system and method of the present invention makes it applicable to servers containing thousands of websites and entire on-line communities. In one embodiment, the system and method of the present invention includes e-commerce analysis and reporting functionality, in which data from standard traffic logs is received and merged with data from e-commerce systems. The system and method of the present invention can produce reports showing detailed “return on investment” information, including identifying which banner ads, referrals, domains, etc. are producing specific dollars.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to Internet traffic and, morespecifically, to a system and method for monitoring and analyzingInternet traffic.

2. Description of Related Art

Internet web-servers such as those used by Internet Service Providers(ISP), are typically configured to keep a log of server usage by theon-line community. For example, as a visitor to a website clicks onvarious hyperlinks and travels through a website, each step is recordedby the web server in a log. Each web page, image and multimedia fileviewed by the visitor, as well as each form submitted, may be recordedin the log.

The type of information logged generally includes the Internet Protocol(IP) address or host name of the visitor, the time of the transaction,the request, the referring page, the web browser and type of platformused by the visitor, and how much data was transferred. When properlyanalyzed, this information can help marketing executives, webmasters,system administrators, business owners, or others make criticalmarketing, business, commerce and technical decisions. The data can bemined for all types of decision supporting information, e.g. analyzingwhich webbrowsers people are using, determining which banner ads areproducing the most traffic, etc.

A problem with mining the raw log data for useful information is theshear volume of data that is logged each day. ISPs may have dozens ofweb servers containing thousands of websites that produce gigabytes ofdata each day. Providing a robust system that can be used on variousplatforms, that can efficiently process the huge amounts of data thatare logged, and that can produce easy to use reports for each website inan automated fashion is a daunting task.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above problems in the art, the present invention providesa system and method for monitoring and analyzing Internet traffic thatis efficient, completely automated, and fast enough to handle thebusiest websites on the Internet, processing data many times faster thanexisting systems.

The system and method of the present invention processes data by readinglog files produced by web servers, or by interfacing with the web serverin real time, processing the data as it occurs. The system and method ofthe present invention can be applied to one website or thousands ofwebsites, whether they reside on one server or multiple servers. Themulti-site and sub-reporting capabilities of the system and method ofthe present invention makes it applicable to servers containingthousands of websites and entire on-line communities.

The system and method of the present invention can create reports forindividual websites, as well as reports for all of the websites residingon a single server or multiple server. The system can also createreports from a centralized system, in which reports are delivered uponrequest directly from the system database via a Common Gateway Interface(CGI).

The system and method of the present invention can also includereal-time analysis and reporting functionality in which data from webservers is processed as it occurs. The system and method of the presentinvention can produce animated reports showing current activity on theweb server, which can be used by administrators and managers to monitorwebsite effectiveness and performance.

The system and method of the present invention can further includee-commerce analysis and reporting functionality in which data fromstandard traffic logs is received and merged with data from e-commercesystems. The system and method of the present invention can producereports showing detailed “return on investment” information, includingidentifying which banner ads, referrals, domains, etc. are producingspecific dollars.

The present invention can be achieved in whole or in part by a systemfor analyzing and monitoring internet traffic, comprising a relationaldatabase, a log engine that processes log files received from at leastone internet server and stores data processed from the log files in therelational database; and a report engine that generates reports based onthe processed data stored in the relational database. The system andmethod of the present invention preferably utilizes Visitor Centric DataModeling, which keeps data associated with the visitor that generatedit, and that allows for the cross-comparing of different elements ofdata coming from different log entries or different log filesaltogether.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrates embodiments of the inventionand, together with the description, serve to explain the principles ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for monitoring and analyzingInternet traffic, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a series of hash tables stored by thedatabase shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the log engineshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the log parser module of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart and schematic diagram of a preferred controlroutine for the read line step of FIG. 4, for accessing and processinglog file data in real time;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the website identification module of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the visitor identification module of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the buffer update module of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of the contents of the databasebuffer shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the DNSresolver module of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart and schematic diagram of a feedback loop controlroutine preferably used by the DNS resolver module of FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of how a preferred embodiment of anadaptable resolution mechanism in the DNS resolver module operates;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of preferred control routines for various controlloops within the DNS resolver module of FIG. 3;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the database update module of FIG. 3;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the main components of thedatabase shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the reportengine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a preferred control routine for the sessionparser module of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a preferred control routine for theauthentication module of FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a preferred control routine for the data querymodule of FIG. 16;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a preferred control routine for the formatoutput module of FIG. 16;

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of a Javascriptsystem used by the report engine of FIG. 16;

FIG. 22 is an example of a visitor monitor report created by the systemof the present invention;

FIG. 23 is an example of a temporal visitor drill down report created bythe system of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is an example of a visitor footprint report created by thesystem of the present invention;

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of a system meter report created by thesystem of the present invention;

FIG. 26 shows visitor table containing e-commerce data, and residing inthe database buffer;

FIG. 27 shows an example of an ROIR e-commerce report generated by thesystem of the present invention;

FIG. 28 shows an example of a snapshot report generated by the system ofthe present invention;

FIG. 29 shows an example of a user interface and an hourly graph reportgenerated by the system of the present invention;

FIG. 30 shows an example of a top pages report generated by the systemof the present invention;

FIG. 31 shows an example of a directory tree report generated by thesystem of the present invention;

FIG. 32 shows an example of a search engines report generated by thesystem of the present invention;

FIG. 33 shows an example of a top domains report generated by the systemof the present invention;

FIG. 34 shows an example of a browser tree report generated by thesystem of the present invention;

FIG. 35 shows an example of a top entrances report generated by thesystem of the present invention; and

FIG. 36 shows an example of a top products report generated by thesystem of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for monitoring and analyzing Internettraffic, in accordance with the present invention. The system 100comprises a log engine 200, a database 300 and a report engine 400.

In operation, log files 510 generated by web servers 500 are sent to thelog engine 200. Web (Internet) traffic is served by the web server 500.The web server 500 can host one or many individual websites. As visitorsaccess the web servers 500 for content, each website hit or transactionis appended to a log. Each web server will typically have its own logfile. Multiple websites on a single server could be logged centrally inone log file, or could be configured so that each website has its ownlog file. The system 100 is able to handle all of these differentarchitectures.

The entries on each of the log files 510 are interleaved so thatindividual website hits or transactions are recorded in the order theyare received. If a single log file contains log entries from multiplewebsites, the log entries are also interleaved so that individual hitsor transactions from each website are recorded in the order they arereceived. Each line in the log files 510 represents a hit or atransaction from the website on one of the web servers 500.

In addition to normal web traffic, many websites contain e-commerceenabled virtual “shopping carts” that allow visitors to securely buyproducts directly from the website. The system 100 can optionallyanalyze the demographics of on-line shopping by receiving e-commerce logfiles 580 produced by e-commerce enabled websites. The e-commerce logfiles 580 are transaction logs that contain information about each orderplaced on the website. Each of the e-commerce log files 580 generallycontains data on the pricing of products purchased, dollar amounts andshipping regions. Sensitive information such as credit numbers,individual names and e-mail addresses are generally not stored on thee-commerce log files 580. Dashed lines are used to represent thee-commerce log files 580 to indicate that the e-commerce functionalityis an optional feature of the system 100.

The preferred embodiment of the log engine 200 is responsible forprocessing all of the log files 510 and 580, domain name system (DNS)resolving and updating the database 300. The log engine 200 utilizesmemory buffers, fixed-width data models and other techniques toefficiently process the log files 510 and 580. In addition, the logengine 200 can be optionally configured to access live data. Theoperation of the log engine 200 will be described in more detail below.

The log engine 200 efficiently reads each line in each of the log files510 and separates each line into its individual parts. The individualparts can include fields such as the IP address, time stamp, bites sent,status code, referral, etc. The log engine 200 utilizes a techniquecalled Visitor Centric Data Modeling. Rather than parsing each log lineand counting how many of one type of browser was used or how many timesa particular webpage was viewed, Visitor Centric Data Modeling keepsthat data associated with the visitor that generated it. One of theprimary advantages of Visitor Centric Data Modeling is the ability tocross compare different elements of data coming from different logentries or different log files altogether. Visitor Centric Data Modelingallows one to determine what percentage of users that originated from aYahoo™ search looked at a particular webpage.

A second benefit of Visitor Centric Data Modeling is reduction ofoverall data processing. Because many elements of the data will be thesame during a visitor's visit, the information only needs to beprocessed once per visitor, rather than once per log line. For example,the primary domain name of the visitor will be the same for each logentry produced by a particular visitor. Visitor Centric Modeling allowsone to process this information only once per visitor. Additionaldetails on how the log engine 200 utilizes the Visitor Centric DataModeling will be provided below.

The log engine 200 processes each log entry and updates the database300. The database 300 contains a series of hash tables. The database 300comprises a series of hash tables, as shown in FIG. 2. The hash tablescomprise a visitor table 310 and associated data tables 315.

The visitor table 310 contains the central record for each visitor to awebsite. The hits, bytes, page views, and other fixed data parameters(hereinafter collectively referred to as “traffic information”) arestored directly in the visitor table 310. The remaining non-uniqueparameters, e.g., domain names, types of web browsers, referring websites, etc., are stored relationally in respective data tables 315. Forexample, one of the data tables 315 could be configured to store a listof the different domain names from which the visitors to the websitebeing monitored by the system 100 originate, while another of the datatables 315 could be configured to store the names of the different typesof web browsers used by the visitors to the web site being monitored bythe system 100.

The database 300 is relational and centers the data in the visitor table310, creating a Visitor Centric Data Model. The visitor table 310contains a hash table 320 that is used for quickly seeking visitorrecords. Below the hash table 310, the actual records 325 contain thetraffic information of each visitor. Each unique visitor will have theirown record in the visitor table 310.

The visitor table 310 is relational in nature and has a relations area330 that contains pointers 335 to records 350 within the data tables315. As discussed above, each of these data tables 315 store differentvisitor parameters such as domain, browser, and referral. Besides vastlyreducing the storage requirements relative to a non-relational database,the data tables 315 can be used to create statistical reports on theusage of different visitor parameters.

Each data table 315 contains a hash table 340, a rank table 345, arecord table 350, and a string table 355. The hash table 340 is used toseek records in the record table 350. The rank table 345 is used to keeptrack of the top entries in the record table 350 based on the number ofpointers 335 set to the records in the record table 350. This is usefulfor quick access to reports. The record table 350 stores the actualrecords within the data table 315 including the traffic informationassociated with the parameter associated with the data table 315. Therecord table 350 does not store the value of the parameter. Instead, therecord table 350 contains a pointer to a record in the string table 355.Each of these subtables (320, 325, 340, 345, 350, 355) has fixed widthrecords allowing for efficient reading, writing, and copying of theentire data sets.

The relational structure of the database 300 has at least twoadvantages. First, the visitor table 310 simplifies the task ofprocessing each hit because, once the visitor is identified, theappropriate visitor table 310 can be identified and updated accordingly.Second, the data tables 315 simplify the task of report generation,because each of the data tables 315 stores a specific parameter (e.g.,the names of the web browsers used by the visitors) and are ranked.Thus, each of the data tables 315 can easily deliver the top list ofentries for a particular report.

Referring back to FIG. 1, once the log files 510, and optionally thee-commerce log files 580, are processed by the log engine 200, and thedatabase 300 is updated, the system 100 is ready to deliver reportsbased on the updated information in the database 300. A user 530 sends areport request 540 to the report engine 400 via a web server 520. Thereport engine 400 obtains the data required to generate the report fromthe database 300, generates the report, and delivers the generatedreport 550 to the user 530 via the web server 520.

The web server 520 can optionally be one of the web servers 500 thatcreated the log files 510 and 580. The report engine 400 preferablyutilizes javascript application techniques, dictionaries, and templatesto provide flexible, efficient, customizable and attractive reports, aswill be explained in more detail below. Reports are generated on the flywhen requested by the user 530 using the standard Common GatewayInterface (CGI) of the web server 520. Storage requirements are keptsmall as all HTML and graphics for the reports are generated as needed.

Log Engine (200)

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the log engine200. The log engine preferably comprises a log parser module 210, awebsite identification module 220, a visitor identification module 230,a buffer update module 240, a DNS resolver module 250, a database buffer260 and a database update module 270.

The log parser module 210 is responsible for the actual reading andprocessing of the log files 510 and the e-commerce log files 580. Thelog parser module 210 can be configured to process either static logfiles or log files that are being generated live in real-time. The logparser module 210 loads each log line from the log files 510 and 580 andseparates each log line into its individual fields.

The website identification module 220 is primarily used when multiplewebsites are being logged to the same file. A class of web hosting knownas “virtual hosting” or “shared hosting” allows ISPs to offer solidperforming website hosting service at reasonable prices. By setting up arobust set of servers with virtual hosting capable software, ISPs canplace multiple websites on the servers, thus allowing the website ownersto share the cost of the servers, maintenance, and networking.

However, as ISPs squeeze more and more websites onto a server in orderto generate profit in an ever increasingly competitive industry,creating a system that is scalable becomes more and more difficult. Oneproblem that administrators soon face is the number log files openduring operation. Typically they will have at least one log file 510 foreach website. As they add hundreds or thousands of websites to a server,the handling of all log files 510 becomes difficult. Moving, rotatingand archiving all of the individual log files 510 becomes a burden.Also, system performance is compromised as resources are allocated toeach open log file (many systems have a hard limit to the number offiles that can be open simultaneously).

To solve this problem, the system and method of the present inventionutilizes Subreport/Multisite Reporting Technology. This technologyallows hosting providers to centralize the logging for all websites.Each server can have just one log file 510 for all websites, keepingresources in check. There is just one log file 510 to manage, rotate,process and archive, thus making the administrator's duties easier, lessexpensive and more scalable.

This website identification module 220 identifies each hit as belongingto a particular website. If the log file 510 or e-commerce log file 580has data from only one website, then the task is simple and is handledthrough straight configuration. However, if the log file 510 ore-commerce log file 580 contains data from multiple websites, then thewebsite identification module 220 employs a series of regular expressionfilters to perform the website identification. The websiteidentification module 220 must be flexible and be able to pull anyconsistent part of the log file 510 for website identification. Thewebsite identification performed by the website identification module islater used to determine what portion of the database 300 to write thedata to.

As discussed above, the log engine 200 utilizes Visitor Centric DataModeling. The first step in using a Visitor Centric Data Model is to beable to identify the specific visitor within each log file line. Thevisitor identification module 230 analyzes the fields in each hit (logfile line) and identifies the hit as belonging to a new or existingvisitor. Based on a unique identifier, such as an IP number or sessionid and a timestamp, the visitor identification module 230 determineswhich visitor record in the database 300 will need to be updated. If thetimestamp of the hit is within a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 30minutes) of an existing visitor, then the hit is considered as comingfrom that visitor.

The buffer update module 240 updates the parameters of the visitorrecord found by the visitor identification module 230 and stored on thedatabase buffer 250 with the current hit's information. The timestamp ofthe hit is used to keep the chronological order of events intact.

The database buffer 250 is a volatile storage area, preferably RAMmemory, that mirrors the actual database 300. At the beginning ofprocessing, current data is read from the database 300 into the databasebuffer 250. After processing is complete, data is written back to thedatabase 300. The purpose of the database buffer 250 is to speed up theprocessing of each hit. Instead of accessing the actual database 300 foreach hit in the log file 510 or e-commerce log file 580, the databasebuffer 250 allows the log engine 200 to build up the data in the fasterRAM memory location of the database buffer 250 and then flush data tothe database 300 in larger chunks. The operation of the database buffer250 will be explained in more detail below.

Before outputting the data to the database 300, the data is passedthrough the DNS resolver module 260 for reverse DNS resolution of IPaddresses. Most web servers log only the IP address of the visitor andnot the host and domain information. The domain information providesvaluable data about the physical and network location of visitors. TheDNS resolver module 260 employs a customized resolution routine designedspecifically to speed up the process of typically slow DNS operations.

The database update module 270 performs the task of updating thedatabase with the contents of the database buffer 260. The databaseupdate module 270 performs some processing (e.g., visitor sorting)before writing to the database 300.

Preferred control routines for the log parser module 210, websiteidentification module 220, visitor identification module 230, bufferupdate module 240, DNS resolver module 260 and database update module270 will be described below.

Log Parser Module (210)

FIG. 4 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the log parser module 210 of FIG. 3, configured toprocess static log files 510. One of the most time consuming operationsis reading and processing the raw log files 510. With individual logfiles 510 containing potentially over a gigabyte of data, getting theraw data into the system 100 is an important step.

The purpose of the log parser module 210 is to efficiently read each logline 512 and separate it into its individual fields. The fields caninclude the IP address, timestamp, bytes sent, status code, referral,etc. As discussed above, each log line 512 in the log file 510represents a hit or transaction from one of the web servers 500.

The log parser module 210 employs a log buffer 600 and a pointer array610 that is reused for each log line 512 in the log file 510. Thus,memory allocation for this log parser module 210 is only done atstartup. The states of the log buffer 600 and pointer array 610 at eachstep in the control routine shown in FIG. 4 are representedschematically under the corresponding step in the control routine.

The control routine starts at step 620, where the pre-allocated logbuffer 600 and the pointer array 610 are cleared. The log buffer 600 iscleared by setting the first character in the log buffer 600 to zero.The pointer array 610 is cleared by setting the values of all theindividual pointers 612 to zero. It is important for stable processingto set all of the pointers in the pointer array 610 to zero before usingthe pointer array 610.

The control routine then continues to step 630, where the next log line512 in the log file 510 is read into the log buffer 600. For a logparser module 210 that is configured to process static log files 510,step 630 is accomplished using standard file access library calls.

The control routine then proceeds to step 640, field spacers areidentified in the log buffer 600 and marked. The field spacers could bespaces, tabs, commas, or anything that can be used as the separatorbetween the fields in the logging format.

At step 650, the marked field spacers are replaced with a zero and theappropriate pointer 612 is set to the next character in the log buffer600. Although steps 640 and 650 are shown as separate steps for purposesof illustration, they are preferably performed at substantially the sametime. Thus, with a single loop and without moving, copying or allocatingany memory, the log buffer 600 containing the single log line 512 isconverted into a series of smaller character strings, each representinga particular field 602, and with each zero terminated.

The pointers 612 in the pointer array 610 can then be used to access thefields 602 as if they were separate strings. Accordingly, with minimalprocessing and absolutely no iterative memory allocation, each log line512 is read and efficiently separated into its fields 602.

Real-Time Control Routine for Log Parser Module (210)

FIG. 5 is a flowchart and schematic diagram of a preferred controlroutine for the read line step of FIG. 4, for accessing and processinglog file data in real time. A web server 500 under normal configurationis shown. The web server 500 handles all requests as they come in andlogs each hit to the log file 510 by appending the log file 510 withdata from each request.

The built in log file 510 acts as a buffer. It is the simplest and mostrobust way to pass data between the web server 500 and the live dataaccess routine 700. The live data access routine 700 can be turned on oroff at will. Once started, the live data access routine 700 runs as alow priority daemon. The live data access routine 700 can exist in twostates: wait 710 and process 720, toggling between the two as dataarrives into the buffer 510.

As long as more data exists in the log file 510, the system will stay inthe process loop 720. The control routine starts at step 730, where thesystem checks for an “End of File” mark in the log file 510. As long asthis mark is not detected, control moves to read step 740, where thenext line in the log file 510 is read into the system. Control thencontinues to the finish control routine step 750, which finishes thecontrol routine steps in the log parser control routine of FIG. 4,starting with the mark fields step 640 in FIG. 4. All of the read, writeand EOF routines are autonomous, which means the web server 500 cancontinue to write new data to the end of the log 510 during the livedata access routine 700.

Once the live data access routine 700 catches up and finishes the logfile 510 by reaching the “End of File” marker, control moves to truncatestep 760, where the log file 510 is immediately truncated. Thetruncation call sets the size of the log file 510 to zero. Sinceappended files always check file sizes before writing, the next writefrom the web server 500 will automatically start at the beginning of thelog file 510. Control them moves to delay step 770, which delays thecontrol routine for a configurable amount of time (typically <=1second). After this delay interval, control returns to the EOF step 730,where the existence of new data is checked.

As long the log file 510 is empty, the live data access routine 700 willremain in the wait loop 710. In this manner, the live data accessroutine 700 has real-time access to write data, while maintaining anarms length from the web server 500 itself.

Website Identification Module (220)

FIG. 6 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the website identification module 220 of FIG. 3,which is designed to identify the website that created each log line 512in a log file 510. The log lines 512 are interleaved and written to thelog file 510 as hits occur. The format of the log file 510 may vary fromprovider to provider. Some may use the canonical domain name in the logfile 510, while others will use a subdirectory in the URI to identifythe website.

There are three configuration variables that pertain to the controlroutine shown in FIG. 6. The subreport field (SF) specifies which fieldin the log file 510 contains the website identifier text. The subreportexpression (SE) is a POSIX extended regular expression that is used tocapture all or part of the field specified by SF. The report nameexpression (RN) is used to build the website name from the informationcaptured by SE.

As discussed above, the log parser module 210 processes each log line512 one at a time, and separates the log line 512 into separate fields602. In the log file 510 shown in FIG. 6, log line field 602′ containsthe website identifier text, and is also indicated in FIG. 6 withshading.

The control routine for the website identification module begins at step800, where log line field 602′ is selected using the SF configurationvariable. The control routine then continues to step 810, where thesubreport expression (SE) is applied to the log line field 602′ selectedat step 800. This is done using POSIX extended regular expressions. Theoperator of the system 100 will need to be familiar with regularexpressions or seek assistance from the manuals or technical support.The SE expression is used to match part or all of log line field 602′.Parenthesis are used to define what is to be matched. For example, tosimply capture the entire field, the SE expression “(.*)” would be used.Whereas, to capture the last parts of a “www” domain name, theexpression “www\.(.*)” could be used. Whatever is matched inside theparenthesis is placed into a first variable $1. If there are multiplesets of parenthesis, then subsequent matched components are placed intoadditional variables (e.g., $2, etc.). In the example shown in FIG. 6,two variables, $1 and $2, are used.

Next, at step 820, the $1 and $2 variables are used to generate the name830 of the website. Using the report name expression (RN), the variables$1 and $2 are replaced with the actual contents of the matchedcomponents. For example, if the following configuration parameters areset:

SF=2

SE=SITE:(.*)

RN=www.mydomain.com/$1

and the following space-separated log line was processed:

123.12.3.1 2000-08-02 SITE:human-resources /index.html 200 1234 thewebsite identification module 220, at step 800, would select“SITE:human-resources” as log line field 602′ in the log line 512. TheSE would capture everything after the “SITE:” part of log line field602′ as defined by the parenthesis location in the SE expression. Thisinformation is placed into the $1 variable. The website name 830 is thenidentified at step 820 by expanding the RN expression and replacing the$1 variable with the actual contents of the match. In this example, theresulting website name 830 is “www.mydomain.com/human-resources”.

Visitor Identification Module (230)

FIG. 7 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the visitor identification module 230 of FIG. 3. Thelog file 510 contains a number of log lines 512 or hits. Because the loglines 512 are interleaved, each log line 512 can be from a differentvisitor. As discussed above, the log parser module 210 processes eachlog line 512 in the log file 510, and places the information in the logbuffer. The log line fields 602 are separated and the data is passed tothe visitor identification module 230.

In the log file 510 shown in FIG. 7, log line field 602″ contains the IDvalue and log line field 602′″ contains the timestamp of the hit. Logline fields 602″ and 602′″ are also indicated in FIG. 7 with shading.

The control routine for the visitor identification module 230 begins atstep 900, where log line fields 602″ and 602′″ are selected, asrepresented schematically under the Identify step 900 in FIG. 7. Thecontrol routine then continues to step 910, where the control routinelooks up the ID value 602″ in the visitor hash table 320 of the visitortable 310 (shown in FIG. 2). If the ID value 602″ does not exist in thevisitor hash table 320, control continues to step 920, where a newvisitor record is created in the visitor hash table 320. If the ID value602″ does exist in the visitor hash table, control skips to step 930.

At step 930, the timestamp 602′″ of the log line 512 is checked againstthe time range of the visitor record in the visitor hash table thatcorresponds to the ID value 602″. If the timestamp 602′″ falls within apredetermined allowable range, control continues to step 940, where thevisitor record identified by the ID value 602″ in the visitor hash tableis determined to be the existing visitor. Otherwise, control jumps backto step 910, where the seek continues through records not previouslysearched until either a new record is created or another existingvisitor is found.

The Visitor Centric Data Modeling described above has a very importantand powerful benefit for real world applications. Many systems orwebsites will use multiple servers either mirroring each other or eachhandling a different part of a website. Extremely busy websites willoften use an array of servers to handle the extreme load of traffic.Other websites may have a secure server area that resides on a specialmachine.

Whether for robustness or functionality, multiple server architecture isa common practice and appears to create a unique problem for internettraffic analysis and reporting. Each web server 500 will create its ownlog file 510, recording entries from visitors as they travel through thewebsite. Often, a single visitor will create log entries in the log file510 for each web server 500, especially if the web servers 500 performdifferent functions of the website.

It is desirable to be able to merge and correlate more than one log file510 so as to have a complete and single record of a particular visitor.The Visitor Centric Data Modeling described above makes this abilityautomatic. Since each hit is uniquely identified to a particular visitorand the timestamp of the hit is recorded, determining the order andlocation of the hits do not require any additional engineering. Thesystem and method of the present invention will automatically correlatethe multiple log files as if they were coming from a single log file.

Buffer Update Module (240)

FIG. 8 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the buffer update module 240 of FIG. 3. The controlroutine starts at step 1000, where it is determined if the log line 512(hit) is from a new day by analyzing the timestamp 602′″ of the log line512. If the log line 512 is the first of a particular day, then controlcontinues to step 1010. Otherwise, control jumps directly to step 1020.

At step 1010, the database buffer 260 is preloaded with any existingcontents for that day from the actual database 300. Control thencontinues to step 1020.

At step 1020, the visitor record identified or created by the visitoridentification module 230 is located in the database buffer 260. Thelocated visitor record 1040 is shown schematically under the locatevisitor record step shown in FIG. 8.

Control then continues to step 1030, where the located visitor record1040 is updated and new information for that visitor is inserted intothe located visitor record 1040. Traffic information is preferablyupdated for the visitor If the located visitor record 1040 is a newvisitor record, then domain, referral, and browser information ispreferably inserted into the located visitor record 1040. All visitorspreferably have their path information updated with any new pageviewinformation. The updated visitor record 1050 is shown schematicallybelow the update record step 1030.

The timestamp 602′″ of the log line 512 is used to determine the orderof the events that took place. An illustrative example is shown in FIG.8. In the example shown, a particular visitor is recorded as looking atPage A 1060 first and then Page C 1070. If the next log line 512processed from the log file 510 indicates that the visitor looked atPage B 1080, the buffer update module 240 (at step 1030) checks thetimestamp 602′″ of the log line 512 to see where in the chain of eventsthe page belongs. In the example shown, Page B 1080 occurred betweenPage A 1060 and Page C 1070. Thus, Page B 1080 is inserted into thevisitor record between the Page A 1060 and Page C 1070. In this manner,the system 100 is able to update and correlate visitor data even if itis out of order in the log file 510.

This automatic processing of multiple log files 510 came from thediscovery that a single multi-threading web server, such as Netscape,may not log all hits sequentially in time. Due to the nature ofmulti-threading applications, it is possible that a single log file 510may contain hits out of chronological order. The system and method ofthe present invention was therefore designed to handle this situationproperly by checking the timestamp 602′″ of each log line 512 andinserting the information in the log line 512 into the appropriate placein the retrieved visitor record 1040 based on the chain of events. Withthis functionality, the processing of multiple load-balancing log files510 is as simple as reading two log files instead of one.

The operation of the database buffer 260 will now be explained in moredetail. As discussed above, the log engine 200 contains an internaldatabase buffer 250 that mirrors part of the actual database 300,preferably in RAM. This allows the log engine 200 to correlate andupdate visitor records quickly for each hit without accessing the actualdatabase 300 for each hit. Data is correlated and cached into thedatabase buffer 250, which stores the data temporarily while processingthe log file 510. When processing of the log file 510 is completed, thedatabase buffer 250 is written back to the database 300 in one step.

The use of a database buffer 250 results in more RAM usage, but has theadvantage of lowering the overhead of database access, resulting infaster processing times. By pre-inspecting the log files 510, the logengine 200 determines the time ranges being used and reads theappropriate data into the database buffer 250. The database buffer 250allows Urchin to avoid reading and writing to the database 300 for eachlog line 512. Instead, the log engine 200 is able to make updates to thevisitor tables 310 and the data tables 315 in memory (through thedatabase buffer 250) and then read and write the entire data block toand from the database 300, which is preferably stored on disk, onlyonce.

Database Buffer (250)

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of the contents of the databasebuffer 250. As discussed above, the database buffer 250 mirrors aportion of the database 300, preferably in RAM. Thus the visitor tables310′ and data tables 315′ in the database buffer 250 have the sameformat as the visitor tables 310 and data tables 315 in the actualdatabase 300.

Because the database buffer 250 is loaded with data from the database300, the visitor tables 310′ and data tables 340′ in the database buffer250 are also relational. The data is centered in the visitor table 310′,creating a Visitor Centric Data Model. The visitor table 310′ contains apartially filled hash table 320′ that is used for quickly seekingvisitor records. Below the partially filled hash table 310′, the actualrecords 325′ contain data about each visitor, such as hits, bytes, time,etc. Each unique visitor will have their own record in the visitor table310′. As each log line 512 is processed and identified to a particularvisitor, that visitor's record is updated in the visitor table 310′within the database buffer 250. Like the visitor table 310 in the actualdatabase 300, the visitor table 310′ in the database buffer 250 isrelational in nature and has a relations area 330′ that containspointers 335′ to the data tables 315′. Like the data tables 315 in theactual database 300, each of the data tables 315′ in the database buffer250 store different visitor parameters such as domain, browser, andreferral.

Each data table 315′ contains a hash table 340′, a rank table 345′, arecord table 350′, and a string table 355′. The hash table 340′ is usedto seek records in the record table 350′. The rank table 345′ is used tokeep track of the top entries in the record table 350′ based on thenumber of visitors using the parameter associated the data table 315′.This is useful for quick access to reports. The record table 350′ storesthe actual records within the data table 315′ including the trafficinformation associated with the parameter associated with the data table315′. The record table 350′ does not store the value of the parameter.Instead, the record table 350′ contains a pointer to a record in thestring table 355′. Each of these subtables (320, 325, 330, 340, 345,350, 355) has fixed width records allowing for efficient reading,writing, and copying of the entire data sets. In addition to the fixedwidth nature of the subtables, the records in the subtables areallocated in large blocks. Memory allocation is not necessary for eachnew record individually.

Besides using efficient hashing algorithms for processing the data,resizing of the database buffer 250 is done so that data tables 315′ andthe hash table 320′ in the visitor table 310′ are partially empty. Thisallows new records to be created instantly without allocating additionalmemory. The gray areas in the data tables 315′ and the hash table 320′in the visitor table 310′ indicate the used portions. As the tablesreach a predetermined fullness threshold, they are preferably increasedin size.

Once the processing of the log file 510 is complete, the data tables315′ and the visitor table 310′ are written back into the actual storeddatabase 300. The subtables are written separately so that empty recordsare not stored on the disk that holds the actual database 300. However,the fixed width nature of the subtables allows for efficient writing ofentire blocks of data to the actual database 300. The use of thedatabase buffer 250 increases the speed of the log engine 200 byavoiding frequent memory allocation and disk access. By cachinginformation in volatile memory (in the form of the database buffer 250),and reading and writing fixed sized blocks of data, the log engine 200is extremely fast.

DNS Resolver Module (260)

When a web server 500 receives a request for a web page, the web server500 can either log the IP address of the visitor or it can use DNS toresolve the host and domain information of the visitor. While domaininformation is valuable for market analysis purposes, the resolution canadd significant overhead to the web server 500 and delay the response ofthe web server to the end user. It is therefore desirable to pass thetask of DNS resolving onto the system 100 of the present invention. Thisallows the web server 500 to stay as light and quick as possible forvisitors accessing the website.

One of the biggest and most time consuming tasks in processing webserver logs files 510 and creating valuable reports is the processing ofthe reverse DNS of the IP numbers. Each IP number must be converted to ahost/domain name by using the distributed DNS system of the Internet.While the local name server may cache many of the answers, most willlikely need to go out to the Internet for resolution.

The speed and scalability of the present system 100 is one of itsadvantages within the operations of large hosting companies. Whetherprocessing single large websites or hundreds of thousands of smallwebsites, the speed of the DNS resolver module 260 is important. The DNSresolver module 260 uses several innovative techniques for improving thespeed and accuracy of the process, as will be described in more detailbelow.

For each IP number that needs resolving, a query is sent out to theInternet, where it bounces around a few times in the DNS system beforecoming back with the answer. This can take up to a couple of seconds,and sometimes the answer never comes back. As far as the local system isconcerned, the bulk of this time is spent waiting for the response. Anaspect of the present invention is the discovery that, since each of thequeries is separate and unique, the processing can be done in parallelusing multithreading techniques. The overall waiting can be done all atonce instead of sequentially, thus shortening the overall processingconsiderably.

For example, if ten queries are each resolved in one second each, normaloverall processing time would be ten seconds. However, by making theoperation parallel so that all ten queries are processed simultaneously,then the overall processing time could be reduced to one second.

In practice, however, multithreading systems, such as those based on theuse of POSIX threads and BIND 8.2, carry a significant overhead, and thesetting up of sockets and memory locking reduces the benefits of themultithreading. Instead, the DNS resolver module 260 is not based onthreads, but takes on the advantage of the parallel nature of theunderlying protocols themselves to simulate threading operation withoutthe additional overhead. Besides improving the overall speed andaccuracy, the porting of the software is simplified, as it depends onless library calls.

The DNS resolver module 260 generally uses the User Datagram Protocol(UDP) on top of the IP network protocol. The UDP protocol has inherentparallel capabilities. Each query in the protocol is sent like a letterand uses a connectionless socket. Thus, multiple queries can be sentsimultaneously without waiting for responses. Multiple responses can bereceived at any time and in any order. There is no guarantee that allthe answers will return or that they will appear in any particularorder. But, as long as the queries are tracked with an ID number, thisUDP protocol can be used effectively to parallelize the DNS resolvingoperation without the overhead of threads.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of illustrating the operation of the DNSresolver module 260. The DNS resolver module 260 communicates with alocal name server 1100. The local name server 1100 is part of theInternet 1110 DNS system, but resides in the local network as a primarycacheing name server acting as a relay between the DNS resolver module260 and the multiple DNS servers in the Internet 1110.

The communication between the DNS resolver module 260 and the local nameserver uses several UDP sockets 1120. The UDP sockets 1120 are setup anddestroyed only once. Once the UDP sockets 1120 are established, the DNSresolver module 260 sends groups of queries 1130. The queries 1130 arerepresented by “Q” boxes, and the responses (or answers) 1140 arerepresented by “A” boxes. The local name server 1100 relays the queries1130 and answers 1140 to the Internet 1110 using a built-in DNS system.The local name server has cacheing ability and will remember recentlyasked queries 1130 and answer immediately instead of sending them on tothe Internet 1110.

One of the keys to shortening the processing time is to get as manyqueries 1130 out in the Internet 1110 at one time. This shortens thewaiting significantly. Without the use of threads, the DNS resolvermodule 260 takes advantage of the UDP protocol, and goes through a loopof sending and reading queries 1130 and answers 1140, as will bedescribed in more detail below. Without waiting for all answers 1140 toreturn or for thread controls to be freed up, the DNS resolver modulepreferably sends as many queries 1130 as possible out into the Internet1110.

As incoming answers 1140 are decoded and the ID numbers are matched withthe originating queries 1130, the IP numbers are efficiently resolved ina manner that truly parallelizes the waiting and thus dramaticallyreduces the processing time without the overhead of threads.

During the flood of queries 1130 and answers 1140, the DNS resolvermodule 260 goes through a primary loop of sending queries 1130 andreading answers 1140. The kernel level sockets and the local name server1100 can only handle so many requests simultaneously, and will dropexcess queries 1130 if capacity is reached. While having a few (i.e.,less than 10%) of the queries 1130 dropped is acceptable, having toomany queries 1130 dropped will result in a large percentage of retries,creating additional work and actually slowing the overall processingtime. However, it is desirable to send queries 1130 as rapidly aspossible. What is needed is a feedback loop that can adjust the rate atwhich queries 1130 are sent and the waiting time for answers 1140.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart and schematic diagram of a feedback loop controlroutine preferably used by the DNS resolver module 260. A resolver loop1150 controls a loop that cycles between sending and reading queries1130 and answers 1140.

The control routine starts at step 1160, where a group of queries 1130are sent through the UDP sockets 1120. Once the queries 1130 are sent,control continues to step 1170, where the resolver loop 1150 will tryreading answers 1140 for a predetermined amount of time (Timeout). Oncethe Timeout is reached, the resolver loop will compare how many queries1130 were sent against how many answers 1140 were received, and adjustthe Timeout accordingly. Control then returns to step 1160.

In addition to the socket speed capabilities, certain queries 1130 willinherently take longer than others. Some queries 1130 may need to gohalfway around the world before resolving is completed. To minimize thiseffect, The resolver loop 1150 preferably begins with a very aggressive(short) Timeout, and progressively increases the Timeout to wait for theanswers 1140 that are taking longer to arrive. The resolver loop 1150will actually go through multiple loops and, at a slower pace, reattemptqueries 1130 that were never answered. This adaptable resolving speedcontrol gives the DNS resolver module 260 the ability to process thebulk of queries 1130 very quickly, and minimize the impact of a few slowor non-responding answers 1140.

The DNS resolver module 260 is preferably configured with the ability toincrease the resolving percentage and overall accuracy of the DNSresolving module 260 by adapting the query level. Under normal DNSresolving, the IP number is mapped to a specific hostname. For example,the IP number 202.110.52.16 may map to the hostname:

dial 141-sddc2.npop43.aol.com

While it may be interesting to see the “dial 141-sddc2.npop43” part ofthe hostname, one is typically only interested in the domain part (e.g.,“aol.com”™) of the answer 1140. The first part of the answer 1140 isspecific to each provider and does not contribute to thedemographic-type reporting that the present system 100 is preferablydesigned to provide.

In many networks, especially government, military, and small privatenetworks, individuals IPs are not always mapped to anything. The query1130 of a specific IP may return with an answer 1140 of “unknown host”,which means that not all if the IPs were mapped back to the hostnames.Unfortunately this can reduce the resolving percentage by 20 or 30percent, and skew the demographic data away from non-resolvable networkssuch as are often found in government, military, and educationalnetworks.

To make up for this deficiency, the DNS resolving module 260 preferablydeploys an adaptable resolving level mechanism that attempts to find outwho controls the network in question if the hostname answer 1140 returnsunsuccessfully.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of how a preferred embodiment of theadaptable resolution mechanism operates. An unresolved IP number 1180enters the DNS resolver module 260. The DNS resolver module 260 willmake multiple attempts at resolving the IP number by sending outmultiple queries 1130 one at a time using different query information.The first query 1130 a will attempt to resolve the entire specific IPnumber. If that returns unsuccessful, then a second query 1130 b willattempt to resolve the Class-C network address (a Class-C networkaddress is equivalent to the first three parts of an IP address).

If the second query returns unsuccessful, a third query 1130 c willattempt to resolve the Class-B network address. If the third query isunsuccessful, a fourth query 1130 d will attempt to resolve the Class-Anetwork address. Many times, the Class-C or Class-B network addresseswill resolve correctly when the IP address did not.

This technique improves the resolving accuracy dramatically and improvesoverall performance speed. In the case of government, military,educational and other private networks, “unresolved” percentages havebeen observed to go from 35% down to 8%, and “k12.us” and “navy.mil”show up in the top domains reports using the adaptable resolving levelmechanism of the present invention. While these domains are notresolving their individual IPs, the general source of the traffic isobtained.

Using the above-described techniques, the DNS resolver module comprisesa nested-loop, adaptable system that is fast and efficient. Thenested-loop architecture is shown in FIG. 13, which is a flowchart of apreferred control routine for the various loops within the DNS resolvermodule 260.

The control routine begins by initializing some variables, includingfive configuration variables 1190 that include:

resolution target (RT);

number of loops (NL);

queries per write (NQ);

interquery delay (DQ); and

wait timeout (WT).

These five settings represent starting points for operation. They may bemodified at runtime using the feedback mechanism discussed above inconnection with FIG. 11. The control routine comprises a main loop 1200,a visitor loop 1210 nested within the main loop 1200, and a read loop1215 nested within the visitor loop 1210. Dashed lines indicateasynchronous non-loop flow tasks. Sockets are initialized before themain loop 1200 begins.

The control routine begins at step 1220, where it is determined if theloop should continue. The loop 1200 will continue as long as the “numberof loops” (NL) has not been reached and the “resolution target” (RT) hasnot been reached. NL is incremented once the loop begins and RT isadjusted after each “decode answer”.step 1290, which will be describedbelow.

The NL and RT variables serve an important purpose. They allow a highresolving target to be set, while setting an ultimate timeout. Dependingon the size of the data, the number of sites, and the amount of timeavailable, system administrators can modify these variables beforeoperation. Once the resolution target, or the number of loops NL, isreached, the control routine will exit and clean up.

If NL and RT have not been reached, control continues to the visitorloop 1210, whose purpose is to build and send queries for eachunresolved visitor in the visitor table 310′. The visitor loop 1210starts at step 1230, where the next unresolved visitor record from thevisitor table 310′ is pulled and a query 1130 is built. An ID number1250 from the visitor table 310′ is used in the building of the query1130 so that it can be tracked later on as a response.

Next, at step 1240, the query 1130 is sent to the UDP sockets 1120. TheUDP sockets 1120 are used in round robin fashion which allows minimizesthe waiting for buffer controls.

A counter keeps track of how many queries 1130 have been sent in thecurrent batch. Control then continues to step 1260, where the counter ischecked against the NQ variable. If NQ has not been reached, controlloops back to step 1230. An optional interquery delay (DQ) step 1270 canbe inserted between steps 1260 and 1230 to keep the visitor loop 1210from running too fast.

If NQ has been reached, which occurs when all the queries in the batchhave been sent, NQ is reset and control then continues to the read loop1215. The read loop 1215 continues until the WT timeout variable isreached.

At step 1280, any buffered incoming answers 1140 are read from the UDPsockets 1120. Next, at step 1290, each answer 1140 is decoded. Controlthen continues to step 1300.

At step 1300, it is determined if the answer 1140 is successful. If theanswer 1140 is successful, control continues to step 1310, where thevisitor table 310′ is updated with the domain information. Control thencontinues to step 1330.

If, at step 1300, it is determined that the answer 1140 is unsuccessful,control continues to step 1320, where the record in the visitor table310′ is modified by changing the resolution status. The resolutionstatus is used to control the resolution level, as discussed above. Ifthe answer 1140 comes back as “unknown” then the resolution status ischanged for that visitor record, indicating that the next query 1130should attempt to resolve the larger network instead of the specific IP.Control then continues to step 1330.

At step 1330, the read loop 1215 condition is checked by determining ifthe incoming UDP sockets 1120 are empty and if the timeout WT has beenreached. If the incoming UDP sockets 1120 are empty and the WT timeouthas been reached, the read loop 1215 ends, and control flows back to thevisitor loop 1210 at step 1340. Otherwise, the read loop 1215 continues,and control loops back to step 1280.

At step 1340, it is determined if the resolution target (RT) has beenreached. If it has, the visitor loop 1210 ends, and control flows backto the main loop 1200 at step 1350. Otherwise, the visitor loop 1210continues at step 1230 with the next batch of unresolved queries.

At step 1350 of the main loop 1200, the WT timeout is adjusted(increased for the next loop). Control then continues to step 1220,where NL and RT are checked, NL is incremented and starts the entireprocess over again if neither NL nor RT have been reached.

With minimal overhead, the DNS resolver module 260 takes advantage ofthe UDP protocol and maximizes the parallelization of the processing.Through a series of nested loops and control parameters, the DNSresolver loop is able to adapt both speed and level in order to meet theresolving target as quickly as possible. Multiple rounds and levels ofqueries 1130 are resent to cover lost or failed attempts, therebyincreasing overall accuracy and resolution percentage dramatically.Thus, system administrators can put a cap on overall processing time,while maintaining a high resolution target.

Database Update Module (270)

Once the log file processing is complete and all the log lines 512(hits) are represented in the visitor table 310′ on the database buffer250, the visitor table 310′ is sorted (if multiple websites arerepresented). The database buffer 250 is outputted to the database 300using the database update module 270.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart and schematic diagram illustrating a preferredcontrol routine for the database update module 270. The schematicdiagram below the control routine steps illustrates what is occurring tothe data during the control routine.

The control routine starts at step 1360, where the visitors in thedatabase buffer 250 are sorted based on their associated websiteidentification. Preferably using a quicksort algorithm, the records inthe database buffer 250 are sorted into groups that belong to the samewebsite. If only one website is represented by the log file 510, thenstep 1360 is trivial. However, in the case of multiple websites, thedatabase buffer 250 is sorted into groups of visitors.

The control routine then continues to step 1370, where the database 300is opened. Then, at step 1380, the database 300 is updated with the datain one of the visitor groups 1400. The process then continues to step1390, where the database 300 is closed.

The control routine then loops back to step 1370, and the databaseupdate process is repeated for each visitor group 1400. By processingthe records in groups, the overhead created by accessing the database300 is reduced.

Database (300)

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the main components of thedatabase 300. As discussed above, the database 300 contains a visitortable 310 and data tables 315. The structure is relational in nature asthe visitor table 310 relates to information stored in the data tables315.

The database 300 also includes methods module 1410 that provides aninterface for accessing, seeking, and inserting data into the visitorand data tables 310 and 315. Both the log engine 200 and the reportengine 400 access the methods module 1410.

The methods module 1410 is the only module that is allowed to directlyaccess the data in the database 300. This creates a modularity to thedatabase 300, in which the format of the visitor table 310 and/or thedata tables 315 can be modified without changing the interface to theother modules in the system 100.

Report Engine

As ISPs add thousands of web sites to a single system, the creation ofreports can begin to take as long as processing the data. With an everincreasing number of reports to create, the disk space and time neededto accomplish this side of the task can become a problem. The reportengine 400 provides a centralized system that contains a single copy ofthe report templates and icons needed to generate reports, and deliversspecific reports for a particular web site only when requested.

The report engine 400 only stores the data for each web site, and notthe specific reports. Since the reports are web-based, they can bedelivered on the fly as requested through the Common Gateway Interface(CGI) of the web server.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the reportengine 400. The report engine 400 comprises a session parser module1420, an authentication module 1430, a data query module 1440, an formatoutput module 1450 and a template/dictionary module 1460.

In operation, a report request 540 received by the web server 520 froman end-user is sent by the web server 520 to the report engine 400through the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) 1470 of the web server 520.The CGI 1470 is a standard mechanism for web servers to allow anapplication to process input and deliver content dynamically via theweb.

The session parser module 1420 reads the input from the report request540 and sets internal variables accordingly. The variables are then usedto determine the data to use, the report to create, and the format ofdelivery.

The authentication module 1430 verifies that the end-user that sent thereport request has permission to view the requested report. Uponverification, the data query module 1440 queries the database 300 forthe raw data needed to generate the requested report.

The raw data is passed to the format output module 1450, which uses aset of templates from the template/dictionary module 1460 to format andcreate the report 550 to be sent back to the end-user via the web server520. The use of templates and dictionaries in the template module allowsfor easy customization of the reporting format. Templates can be used tochange branding and the overall look and feel of the report interface.Dictionaries in the template/dictionary module 1460 can be used tochange the report language on the fly. The end-user can toggle whichdictionary is used for reporting directly through the CGI interface1470.

The access and delivery of reports is preferably controlled using aJavascript application, which is preferably delivered to the end-userupon the first report request 540. The Javascript Application providesthe mechanisms for displaying report content and querying for newreports.

The operation of each of the modules in the report engine 400 will nowbe explained in more detail.

Session Parser Module (1420)

The session parser module 1420 is used to read and access data specificto the type of request being made. Furthermore, hosting operations arecreating control panel interfaces with which customers can login andaccess all of their tools and applications from one web-based location.Customers login once into the control panel, and then have access toe-mail, website builder tools, newsgroups, etc.

In order to integrate the present system 100 into custom control panelinterfaces, the session parser module 1420 is a flexible sessionsensitive system that allows the present system 100 to work seamlesslywith the user's control panel.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart and schematic diagram of a preferred controlroutine for the session parser module of FIG. 16. User requests forreports are generated and passed to the report engine 400 from the webserver 520. Since the system 100 only contains one report engine 400,parameters 1500 are passed to the session parser module 1420 within thereport engine 400 in order to determine which report to generate. Thepassing of parameters 1500 is built into the navigation of the reportinginterface, i.e., as the end-user clicks through the navigation menuswithin the interface and selects a report, the proper parameters 1500are automatically sent to the session parser module 1420.

The parameters 1500 preferably contain three parts. The session-id 1510is used to keep track of which user is logged into the system. Theapplication data 1520 contains the report-specific parameters used toselect the correct report. The user session info is an optional set ofparameters that can be used to integrate the system 100 into a usercontrol panel containing multiple applications.

The control routine 1420 begins at step with the read input step 1540,which parses the list of parameters 1500 and separates the data into“name-value pairs.” Control then passes to the identify variables step1550, which uses a pre-determined configuration 1560 to match theexternal name-value pairs with internal variables. This allows thesystem 100 to recognize custom variables being used by proprietarycontrol panels and other user interface mechanisms.

Authentication Module (1430)

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a preferred control routine for theauthentication module 1430. After the specific variables of the reportrequest and session are determined, the authentication module 1430provides a flexible way to check access authorization for reportrequesters. While the authentication module 1430 may user either builtin functionality or access pre-existing user databases, the basic stepsof the control routine are the same.

The control routine starts at step 1600, where the identity of the user,the website and the report being requested are determined based on datafrom the session parser module 1420. The control routine then continuesto step 1610, where the validation of the user is performed.

Based on configuration, step 1610 can either access internalconfiguration parameters, listing users and reports, or it can access anexternal source (not shown) for user validation. If the user isvalidated for the report request, then control continues to step 1630,where the report request is passed to the data query module 1440. If thevalidation fails, control jumps to step 1640, where an error response isreturned to the user.

Data Query Module (1440)

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a preferred control routine for the data querymodule 1440. This data query module 1440 accesses the methods module1410 in the database 300 in order to receive a report-ready raw dataset.

The control routine starts at step 1650, where the identification of therequested report and other parameters parsed previously by the sessionparser module 1420 are formatted into a query that can be passed to thedatabase 300. The format of the query is based on the specification ofthe methods module 1410 in the database 300. Typically, SQL type queriesare created at step 1650.

Next, at step 1660, the query generated at step 1650 is sent to thedatabase 300. Then, at step 1670, the data from the database 300 isreceived and stored in a buffer. The buffer now contains the rawunformatted data for the requested report. Control then continues tostep 1680, where the data received and stored in the buffer is passed tothe format output module.

Format Output Module (1450)

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a preferred control routine for the formatoutput module 1450. The control routine starts at step 1690, wheretemplates and dictionaries are obtained from the template/dictionarymodule 1460. The templates and dictionaries are chosen based on the typeof report and language desired.

Control then continues to, step 1700, where the requested report isformatted by merging the data stored in the buffer by the data querymodule 1440 with the chosen templates and dictionaries. Variables arereplaced with values, and words are replaced with dictionary entries.The result is a web-based report ready for delivery custom created foreach user. The report is delivered to the user at step 1710.

Javascript System

The report engine 400 preferably uses a Javascript system comprising aspecial combination of HTML and Javascript to produce interactivereports that are extremely efficient and easy to use. The basic conceptis that the Javascript, which is loaded into the user's web browsercontains the code necessary to create the visual reports. Once loaded,the web server 520 only needs to deliver data to the web browser, whichis then rendered on the user side of the Javascript system.

The benefits of Javascript system are less connections to the web server520. The user can experience real-time navigation, as many of thecontrols do not require new connections to the web server 520. Openingmenus and sorting data occur directly in the web browser. Used inconjunction with the CGI Reporting technology described previously, theJavascript system is extremely efficient and scalable for even the mostcrowded web server communities.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of theJavascript system. The system comprises an end-user web browser side1810 and a server side 1820.

When the end-user first accesses the report engine 400, the reportrequest is sent to the web server 520 which returns theframeset/application 1830 and icons 1840. A Javascript application 1850resides hidden in the parent frameset 1860. The Javascript application1850 then draws the two frames: the navigation frame 1870 and the reportframe 1880. The navigation frame 1870 is drawn directly from theJavascript application 1850.

As the end-user wants to see a different attribute of the report ordata, they can click on navigational and control elements in either thenavigation frame 1870 or the report frame 1880. These control elementsaffect variables in the code of the frameset 1860, which then redrawsthe necessary subframes. If the end-user has selected something thatrequires a new data set, only the data is requested and delivered fromthe web server 520 through the report engine 400. The Javascriptapplication 1850 loads the new data 1890, and draws the subframes andreports accordingly.

Real-Time Reporting

The demand for real-time reporting comes from many sources. In today'sfast-paced economy, marketing and advertising managers wish to makerapid decisions and have immediate access to data as it occurs.Likewise, webmasters and system administrators, who are charged withmanaging critical website systems and servers, need real-time monitoringtools in order to keep a finger on the pulse of their systems. Theability to monitor activity in real-time gives the system administratorsthe ability to react to problems and potential attacks. Likewise,managers can monitor marketing strategies and ad campaign effectivenessas they are released.

As described previously, the system 100, using the live data accesscontrol routine shown in FIG. 5, has the ability to record web trafficinto the database 300 continuously as it occurs. Since, as describeabove, the report engine 400 creates reports when they are requested,all reports can display up-to-date real-time information. In addition togeneral demographic and statistical reports, the system 100 ispreferably configured to create a series of reports that arespecifically designed to take advantage of real-time data.

Visitor Monitor

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of a visitor monitor report 1900 createdby the system 100 of the present invention. The report 1900 preferablyuses custom templates specifically designed for real-time reporting. Thereport 1900 is a web-based interface that provides a “live” real-timelook at one of several possible data parameters 1910, such as visitors,pages, hits, bytes and dollars. The report preferably includes a visitormonitor graph 1920 that is preferably refreshed approximately everysecond to reflect new data. The data in the visitor monitor graph 1920preferably moves from right to left as time progresses. The current time1930 is preferably indicated above the visitor monitor graph 1920. Inaddition to the graphical display, the report 1900 preferably displaysthe current value 1940 of the data parameter 1910 currently beingdisplayed, as well as the parameter's average value for that day 1950.

By monitoring the visitor data parameter 1910, the current traffic levelcan be monitored as it occurs. Controls 1960 are preferably providedthat are configured so that the user can look at previous data, stop andfreeze the graph, or continue with current data.

A small amount of Javascript is preferably used to control therefreshing of the visitor monitor report 1900. In addition, the visitormonitor report 1900 preferably uses a small amount of Javascript to timeand reload the image 1970. The image 1970 is generated by the reportengine 400, and uses the PNG format for compact lightweight operation.Since only the image 1970 is reloaded approximately every second, thevisitor monitor report 1900 does not flicker when viewed with mostbrowsers, thus creating an animated appearance to the graph 1920.

Temporal Visitor Drill Down

The images 1970 loaded into the visitor monitor report 1900 preferablyinclude an HTML/javascript image map that provides “clickable”drill-down access to detailed information within the visitor monitorgraph 1920. The visitor monitor report 1900 preferably contains a seriesof invisible rectangles (not shown) which cover the surface of thevisitor monitor graph 1920. When the end-user clicks within the visitormonitor graph 1920, within one of the rectangles, that rectangle ismapped to a specific point in time. This time information is thencompiled into a URL query and sent to the server to provide informationon that specific point in time.

FIG. 23 is an example of a temporal visitor drill down report 2000created by the system 100 of the present invention, for displaying thetime-specific data discussed above. All visitors 2010 that werecurrently active on the website at the selected time are listed by IPaddress and sorted based on the number of hits 2020. Bytes 2030,pageviews 2040, and length of visit 2050 are also preferably shown foreach visitor 2010. The totals 2060 of bytes 2030, pageviews 2040, hits2020 and length of visit 2050 for all visitors are also preferablydisplayed at the bottom of each column

Administrators can use this drill down capability to quickly assesswhich visitors 2010 are responsible for the corresponding web servertraffic. Hostile attacks from robots and web spiders can also bemonitored in real-time. Administrators can take action against hostileclients by blocking their access to the servers.

Visitor Footprint

In addition to monitoring web server usage, the drill down capabilitydescribed above is taken one step further. Each visitor 2010 listed inthe Temporal Visitor Drill Down report 2000 is preferably selectable andlinked to provide a visitor footprint on that specific visitor. All ofthe views are web-based and linking is preferably accomplished usingsimple HTML and Javascript. When the user selects a link on theirbrowser, a new browser window opens and queries the report engine 400for the specific information on that visitor.

FIG. 24 illustrates an example of a visitor footprint report 2100created by the system 100 of the present invention. The visitorfootprint report 2100 preferably contains detailed information on theactivity of the selected visitor, including traffic information 2110,browser information 2120, referral information 2130, domain information2140 and the visitor path 2150 (the specific path the visitor tookthrough the web site).

If the visitor shown in the visitor footprint report 2100 is responsiblefor an e-commerce transaction that is processed by the system 100, thenadditional e-commerce information 2160 is preferably shown in thevisitor footprint report 2100. If the visitor shown in the visitorfootprint report 2100 looked at multimedia clips that are captured bythe system 100, then additional streaming information 2170 is preferablyshown in the visitor footprint report.

The browser information 2120 is preferably analyzed to see if it matchesa known browser or platform. If the browser is recognized then an iconof the browser and platform 2180 can be optionally shown as part of thebrowser information 2120. If the visitor is identified as a robot, thenan icon of a robot (not shown) can be optionally shown as part of thebrowser information 2120. This can be useful for quickly identifyinghostile attacks from aggressive robots and spiders which can flood theweb servers 500 with requests, creating a slow down in response times.

The visitor footprint report 2100 can provide insight into the usage ofthe website as well as help analyze specific visitors. While thedetailed activity of the visitor can be monitored, the system 100preferably does not record, use, or display any personal oridentification information such as e-mail addresses, names, etc. Eachvisitor, while specific in the database 300, preferably remainsanonymous.

System Meter

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of a system meter report 2200 created bythe system 100 of the present invention. The system meter report 2200 issimilar to the web-based visitor monitor report 1900 shown in FIG. 22.However, instead of providing a full-sized analysis tool, the systemmeter report 2200 is designed to be small enough to fit on a desktopcomputer screen at all times.

The system meter report 2200 contains multiple thumbnail sized reportimages (2210, 2220, 2230, 2240, 2250) that all refresh in the samemanner as the visitor monitor report 1900. To access the system meterreport 2200, the end-user preferably selects a collapse button 1980(shown in FIG. 22) or a “system meter” navigation button (not shown)within the visitor monitor report 1900. When the system meter report2200 is requested from the visitor monitor report 1900, the windowcontaining the visitor monitor report 1900 preferably closes and a newsmaller window appears on the desktop computer screen containing thesystem meter report 2200.

The system meter report 2200 is preferably configured so that a user canresize the system meter report 2200 (with, for example, a computermouse) creating a compact live web-meter that gives them constantmonitoring of critical systems. The system meter report 2200 is alsopreferably configured so that selecting one of the report images (2210,2220, 2230, 2240, 2250) re-opens the full-sized visitor monitor report1900.

The system meter report 2200 preferably displays graphs of visitors2210, hits 2220, pages 2230, bytes sent 2240, and money 2250 (ife-commerce is activated).

E-Commerce Reporting

As businesses move from providing passive information about theirproducts to providing interactive shopping capabilities, successfulanalysis of internet traffic can provide valuable information for makingstrategic business decisions.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, Return OnInvestment Reporting (ROIR) technology is used to provide the ability toreport on internet traffic in terms of revenue. All aspects of thevisitor reporting are correlated to dollars spent on the website,providing detailed analysis of when and where revenue is generated.Marketing and advertising managers can use this information to track theeffectiveness of banner ads, the location of and behavior of shoppersand more.

The key to this technology is the present invention's ability tocorrelate data in a Visitor-Centric way. The Visitor-Centricconfiguration of the present invention allows the system 100 to reporton dollars spent in correlation with any visitor parameter.

E-commerce websites use shopping cart software (hereinafter “shoppingcarts”) to provide a secure method for on-line ordering. Shopping cartsallow the end-user to add products to their virtual shopping basket,change quantities and check out, similar to a normal shoppingexperience. There are many commercial shopping cart products such asMiva's Merchant™ and Mercantec's Softcart™.

Whether an e-commerce site uses an off-the-shelf product or a customengineered application, the concept is the same. The shopping cartsoftware keeps track of each visitor shopping session. As products areadded to an individual's shopping cart, the software updates thevisitor's specific information. When the visitor decides to check outand purchase the products, the shopping cart provides the necessaryshipping and billing forms and can process the transaction.

E-Commerce Log File Format

The internet traffic monitoring and analysis system and method of thepresent invention utilizes the e-commerce log files 580 produced by theshopping carts to perform the e-commerce data correlation. However, thelog file formats used by different shopping carts can vary. A preferrede-commerce log file format for use with the internet traffic monitoringand analysis system and method of the present invention is describedbelow.

The e-commerce log file format is preferably a tab-separated, multilineformat. The transaction preferably begins with the exclamation mark (!)character (which is thusly prohibited from the rest of the data). Thefirst line of the e-commerce log file preferably contains the geographicand overall information on the e-commerce transaction. Subsequent linespreferably contain details on individual products. The preferred basicformat of the e-commerce log file 580 is as follows:

-   -   !transfield1 transfield2 . . . .    -   productfield1 productfield2 . . . .    -   productfield1 productfield2 . . . .    -   !transfield transfield2 . . . .    -   etc.        Blank fields preferably contain a dash (-) character. The        preferred format for the transaction line is as follows:

\!% {ORDERID} % h % {STORE}% {SESSIONID}% t % {TOTAL}% {TAX} % {SHIPPING} % {BILL_CITY}% {BILL_STATE}% {BILL_ZIP}% {BILL_CNTRY}

where

-   -   % {ORDERID} is the order number.    -   % h is the remote host (see apache.org).    -   % {STORE} is the name/id of the storefront.    -   % {SESSIONID} is the unique session identifier of the customer.    -   % t is time in the common log format    -   % {TOTAL} is the transaction total including tax and shipping.        (decimal only, no “$” signs).    -   % {TAX} is the amount of tax charged to the subtotal.    -   % {SHIPPING} is the amount of shipping charges.    -   % {BILL_CITY} is the billing city of the customer.    -   % {BILL_STATE} is the billing state of the customer.    -   % {BILL_ZIP} is the billing zip of the customer.    -   % {BILL_CNTRY} is the billing country of the customer        The preferred format for the product line is:

% {ORDERID} % {PRODUCTCODE} % {PRODUCTNAME} % {VARIATION} % {PRICE}%{QUANTITY}% {UPSOLD}

where

-   -   % {ORDERID} is the order number.    -   % {PRODUCTCODE} is the identifier of the product.    -   % {PRODUCTNAME} is the name of the product.    -   % {VARIATION} is an optional variation of the product for        colors, sizes, etc.    -   % {PRICE} is the unit price of the product (decimal only, no “$”        signs).    -   % {QUANTITY} is the quantity ordered of the product.    -   % {UPSOLD} is a boolean (110) if the product was on sale.

An aspect of the present invention is the optional provision of aplug-in module for existing shopping carts that will allow the shoppingcart to create the e-commerce file log 580 in the preferred format.

E-Commerce Visitor Correlation

In order to provide the ROIR reporting described above, the system 100performs a special correlation between the e-commerce transaction datain the e-commerce log file 580 and normal website visitor traffic datain the standard log files 510.

As discussed above, both the standard log files 510 and the e-commercelog files 580 are processed by the log engine 200. As discussed above inconnection with FIGS. 3-9, each line of the log files 510 and 580 isprocessed and passes through the following steps. (1) the log line 512of the log file 510 or 580 is read into the database buffer 250;depending on the format of the log file, the log line 512 is processedand identified; (3) the website identification module is used ifmultiple websites are logged into the same log file 510 or 580; (4) thevisitor identification module uses the IP number and a timestamp foundin the log line 512 (or session id) to establish the unique identity ofthe visitor; (5) the visitor ID is used to determine the record numberin the visitor table 310′; and (6) the record is updated with theinformation from the log line 512.

FIG. 26 shows the visitor table 310′ in the database buffer 250. Asdiscussed above, the visitor table 310′ may include many fields, such asHits 3000, Bytes 3010, Pages 3020, Dollars 3030, Referrals 3040, Domain3050, Browser 3060, etc. The visitor table 310′ is where the e-commercecorrelation is done.

The e-cornmerce log file 580 will update the visitor's Dollars field3030, which indicates money spent by the visitor. The remaining fieldsare updated using the standard log file 510. The Dollars field 3030 isused to determine money spent on the website in terms of the otherfields (parameters).

For example, the Referral field 3040 in the visitor table 310′ holds arecord number to an entry in the referral data table 3070. The referralin the referral data table 3070 indicates how the visitor found thewebsite. For example, if the visitor came from the Yahoo.com™ website,then the referral field 3040 in the visitor table 310′ would hold therecord number pertaining to the Yahoo.com™ entry in the referral datatable 3070. All visitors that came from Yahoo.com™ would have the samereferral record number in the referral field 3040. Similarly, the Domainand browser fields 3050 and 3060 in the visitor table 310′ would holdrecord numbers to entries in the domain data table 3080 and browser datatable 3090. The other fields 3000, 3010 and 3020 would likewise havedata tables associated with them (not shown).

By looping over the visitor table 310′, a money amount can be associatedwith each entry in any of the data tables. If, for example, a moneyamount is associated with each entry in the referral data table 3070,all shoppers that came from Yahoo.com™ (as an example) would beaggregated to produce a return-on-investment indicator.

FIG. 27 shows an example of an ROIR e-commerce report generated by thesystem 100 of the present invention. The report 3100 uses the domaindata table 3080, shown in FIG. 22, to produce a top-10 report ofInternet Domains whose visitors spent the most money on the websiterepresented by the report 3100. In the example report 3100, Aol.com™ isthe top domain in terms of money, spending approximately 46% of allmoney spent on the website.

The total money spent by all the visitors for each domain is displayedwhen the “Dollars” tab 3110 is selected. The average amount of moneyspent by each visitor at each domain can also be displayed selecting the“Dollars/Visitor” tab 3120. The average amount of money spent by eachvisitor is calculated by dividing the total amount of money spent ateach domain by the number of visitors to the domain.

E-commerce website owners can use these correlations to make valuablebusiness decisions. The system and method of the present invention cancorrelate money to keywords, banner ads, search engines, referrals,domains, countries, browsers, platforms, or any other parameter ofinterest. The website operators can monitor the performance of searchengine registrations, banner ad placements, regional ad campaigns, andmore.

User Interfaces/System Reports

Examples of preferred user interfaces and system reports will know bediscussed. All reports and interfaces are preferably web-based andviewed with a web browser. While not all possible reports are shown, thereports shown are representative of the types of reports and reportconfigurations that are possible with the system and method of thepresent invention. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that theconfiguration and types of reports, as well as the configuration andtypes of user interfaces may vary from those shown while still fallingwithin the scope of the present invention.

Further the user interfaces described below are for generation of staticreports. The user interfaces used for real-time reports were describedabove in connection with FIGS. 22-25.

FIG. 28 shows a preferred browser-based user interface 4000. This ispreferably the first user interface 4000 shown when the user firstaccesses the reporting interface of the system 100. The user interface4000, preferably contains areas 4020 and 4030 for displaying productand/or company logos. The user interface 4000 also includes a mainreporting window 4100 for displaying a currently chosen report.

The user interface 4000 preferably includes a navigation area 4040 thatcontains a collection of menus that group the available reports intodifferent categories, preferably seven main categories, each with anassociated link 4050: Traffic; Pages; Referrals; Domains; Browsers;Tracking; and E-Commerce. A collection of links to specific reports 4060related to a chosen category link 4050 is preferably displayed under achosen category link 4050. The currently chosen report link 4070 ispreferably indicated by a change in color or shading. In the exampleshown in FIG. 28, the currently chosen report link 4070 corresponds tothe “Snapshot” report.

The user interface 4000 preferably includes a “date range” functionsarea 4080. Depending on the report chosen, this date range functionsarea 4080 allows the user to select the date range of the report beingshown. The user interface also preferably includes a controls area 4090that preferably includes preferences and report exporting features. Thepreferences function of the controls area 4090 allows the user to changereport settings, such as the language that is used for display. Theexporting function of the controls area 4090 allows the user to exportthe currently viewed data for use in other applications, such asMicrosoft Excel™.

The user interface 4000 also preferably includes a Help Information area4130, which gives a brief synopsis of the report being displayed andprovides a link 4135 for more in-depth information.

Traffic Related Reports

The Snapshot report 4010 shown in FIG. 28 is preferably a bar graph 4110of the last 7 days of web site traffic in terms of various fields,preferably Visitors, Pageviews, Hits, or Bytes. There are preferably tabcontrols 4120 on the report 4010 that allow the user to select whichfield is displayed. The date of each day is preferably shown below thebars in the graph 4110.

FIG. 29 shows an example of an Hourly Graph report 4200. The HourlyGraph report preferably shows traffic versus hour of the day in terms ofvarious fields, preferably Visitors; Pageviews, Hits, or Bytes. Thereare preferably tab controls 4120 on the report 4200 that allow the userto select which field is displayed.

The Hourly Graph report 4200 is preferably a bar graph indicating the 24hours of the day from left: to right. This report allows administratorsto see when peak activity is expected and when to plan site maintenanceand upgrades.

Other reports available under the Traffic category preferably includethe Summary, Daily Graph, Monthly Graph and Top Servers reports. TheSummary report gives a text based summary of overall traffic to thesite. The Daily Graph is similar to the Hourly Graph report 4200, exceptthat the traffic is displayed as a function of the day of the month. TheMonthly Graph report provides traffic displayed versus month of theyear, and the Top Servers report indicates which log files or serversare responsible for the most traffic in the cluster.

Pages Related Reports

FIG. 30 shows an example of a Top Pages report 4300. The Top Pagesreport 4300 is one of the reports listed under the Pages menu 4310. TheTop Pages report 4300 preferably indicates a top-ten type list, rankingwhich pages in the website are the most visited. The tabs 4120 arepreferably used to view the report 4300 in terms of either Pageviews orBytes transferred. Next and previous buttons 4320 are preferablyprovided that allow the user to scroll through the Top Pages Report4300. The number of entries shown are preferably adjusted with the#Shown menu 4330.

FIG. 31 shows an example of a Directory Tree Report 4400. The DirectoryTree Report 4400 is similar to the top pages report 4300 of FIG. 30,except that the Directory Tree Report 4400 preferably includes links4410 next to each entry that can be selected to open information belowthat entry. This allows for easy display and navigation of hierarchicaltype data, such as a directory structure.

The directory tree report 4400 indicates which directories within thewebsite architecture are being accessed the most. Under each directory,the end user can drill down to see the subdirectories or individualpages contained within the primary directory by selecting the links4410.

Other pages-related reports in the Pages menu 4310 preferably includeFile Types, Status/Errors, and Posted Forms. The File Types report is atop-ten type report that indicates which file extensions or types areaccessed the most. This allows the user to distinguish between HTMLpage, GIF images, etc. The Status/Errors report is a tree-type reportthat indicates status codes and error messages that occur during webcontent delivery. The Posted Forms report is a top-ten type report thatindicates the forms that were submitted using the POST method as definedin the HTTP protocol.

Referrals Related Reports

FIG. 32 shows an example of a Search Engine report 4500 from theReferrals menu 4510 of the navigation area 4040. The Referrals menu 4510provides reports related to how the visitor found a website.

The Search Engines report 4500 contains a tree-type list of the mostused search engines. Each search engine can then be expanded to seewhich keywords were used during those searches.

Additional reports in the Referrals menu 4510 preferably include TopReferrals, Top Keywords, and the Referral Tree. The Top Referralsreports is a simple top-ten type list of the top referring URLs. TheKeywords report indicates the top keywords used across all searchengines. The Referral Tree report breaks down the Referral URLs bydomain.

Domains Related Report

FIG. 33 is an example of a Top Domains report 4600, which indicatesregional and network information about the visitors. The visitor'sdomain is determined by the IP address of the visitor. The domain isresolved using the Reverse DNS module 260 within the log engine 200described previously.

Additional reports under the Domains menu 4610 in the navigation area4040 preferably include Domain Tree and Top Countries. The Domain Treereport provides the different levels of domains. Primary domains such as.com and .edu are shown first. Preferably, these can be expanded to showdetailed information within. The Top Countries report expands andanalyzes which countries people are coming from.

Browsers Related Reports

FIG. 34 shows an example of a Browser Tree report 4700, which is atree-type report that ranks the most widely used browsers by visitor tothe website. Browsers such as Internet Explorer™ and Netscape™ arereported upon as a whole and by version. Each primary browser can beexpanded to see the breakdown by version.

Additional reports in the Browsers menu 4710 of the navigation area 4040preferably include Platform Tree and Top Combos. The Platform Treereport indicates the operating system of the visitor. It is a tree-typereport that can be expanded to show the versions under each platform.The Top Combos report ranks the correlation between browser andplatform.

Tracking Related Reports

FIG. 35 shows an example of a Top Entrances report 4800. As part of theTracking menu 4810 within the navigation area 4040, the Top Entrancesreport 4800 indicates the starting point of visitors in the website.Additional reports in the Tracking section 4810 preferably include TopExits, Click Through, Depth of Visit, Length of Visit, and Usernames.

The Top Exits report provides a list of the last page visitors looked atbefore leaving the site. The Click Through report indicates the clickpercentage from any one page to another. The Depth of visit reportprovides a histogram of the number of pages viewed by visitors. TheLength of Visit report provides a histogram of the time spent on thesite by visitors. The Usernames report analyzes the usage of passwordprotected areas of a website by listing the usernames that were used tologin to the those sections.

E-Commerce Related Reports

FIG. 36 shows an example of a Top Products report 4900, which is part ofthe E-Commerce menu 4910 in the navigation area 4040. The Top Productsreport 4900 indicates the Top Products purchased from the site byrevenue. Additional reports in the E-Commerce menu 4910 preferablyinclude Totals, Product Tree, Regions, and Top Stores. The Totals reportgives a summary of overall e-commerce activity. The Product Tree reportgroups products by category. The Regions report indicates the regionallocation of shoppers including cities, states and countries. If multiplestore fronts are used by the same shopping system, the Top Stores reportcan breakdown revenue by storefront.

System Integration

The system and method of the present invention can be configured in manydifferent ways. From single server configurations to complex loadbalancing systems, the system and method of the present invention isflexible in its integration abilities. While it is difficult to catalogevery possible architecture, several possible configurations aredescribed below.

Webserver Vs. Dedicated Server

The system and method of the present invention can be implementeddirectly on the web server 500 that produces the log files (510, 580),or on a separate dedicated computer. If the system 100 is implementeddirectly on the web server 500, it can then use the web server 500 forthe reporting web server 520. If the system 100 is implemented on adedicated box, then a web server 520 will need to be configured on thededicated computer in order to service the report requests.

Access to log files is slightly more complicated on a dedicatedcomputer. If the system 100 is implemented on a dedicated computer, thenthe log files (510, 580) from the web server 500 will need to beaccessible to the dedicated computer by using FTP, NFS, or some othersuitable disk access method. Real-time processing of log files requireswriting permission to the log files (510, 580) which may require anextra configuration step if using a dedicated computer.

As long as the log files (510, 580) are accessible (with permissions)and a web server is available, the system 100 can work just as welldirectly on the web server 500 or on a dedicated computer.

One Website Vs. Multiple Websites

The system and method of the present invention can handle multiplewebsites. During integration, a unique reporting directory for datastorage can be configured for each of the websites. The system 100 willlink the individual report directories back to the main installation, sothat there is only one copy of the templates and icons. Users will needinternet access to the reporting directories. Thus, the web server 520configuration should be similar to the system 100 configuration. Atypical installation will use a subdirectory within each website'sdocument root to store and access the reports.

Whether there is one website or many, the integration preferablyprovides a unique web accessible directory for each websiteconfiguration.

Distributed Logs Vs. Central Logs

Web servers 500 can be configured to create unique log files (510, 580)for each website in the web server's configuration, or a single log file(510, 580) for all websites in the configuration. The system of thepresent invention can be configured to work with either of thesearchitectures. If each website has its own unique log file, then the logfiles are preferably entered into the system's 100 configuration, sothat each website has its own area in the configuration. The system 100will process the logs one at a time treating each website independently.

If the web server 500 is configured to log centrally, then the log file(510, 580) preferably contains some website identification marker inorder for the system 100 to be able to sort and process the log file510. As described previously, the website identification module 220 isdesigned to capture some parameter within the log file, in order todetermine which hits go with which websites. This type of integrationcan automatically detect new websites as they are added to the webserver 500 without modifying the configuration of the system 100.

Single Log Vs. Multi-Log

The system and method of the present invention can be configured forsystems that reside on one web server 500 or on multiple web servers500. Multiple web servers 500 are often used for load-balancing,redundancy, and functional serving. Multiple web servers 500 will eachhave their own set of logs 510. The system and method of the presentinvention can automatically correlate the visitor centric data frommultiple logs (510, 580), as described previously. By simply enteringthe multiple logs in the configuration, the system 100 will process themultiple logs.

E-Commerce Vs. No-Commerce

As described previously, the system and method of the present inventioncan include e-commerce reporting functionality, and can be used inconjunction with shopping cart software. The e-commerce log files 580are handled similarly to the multi-log architecture discussed above. Thee-commerce logs 580 are simply treated as multiple logs. Additionalentries will need to be made in the configuration.

For integration into e-commerce systems, the shopping cart software ispreferably configured to create the preferred log file format describedabove.

Control Panel Vs. Stand-Alone

Many larger hosting providers are creating centralized web-based controlpanels that contain links to all of the tools and systems available tothe hosting clients. Hosting clients log into the control panel once andare provided with customized information and interaction, such asaccessing their unique e-mail account, uploading files to their uniquewebsite, and viewing the reports created by the system of the presentinvention.

Stand-alone systems will have unique reporting directories for eachwebsite. Thus, accessing the reporting area is simple, as each reportingarea will have a unique URL. Protecting report access can beaccomplished through the web server 520 itself, and does not requireintegration with the system 100.

For control panel integrations, the system and method of the presentinvention is preferably sensitive to session controlling technology. Asdescribed previously, the session parser module 1420 has the ability todetect custom variables and control report delivery from a centrallocation.

The various components of the present invention are preferablyimplemented on internet (e.g., web) servers, which may be or include,for instance, a work station running the Microsoft Windows™ NT™,Windows™ 2000, UNIX, LINUX, XENIX, IBM, AIX, Hewlett-Packard UX™,Novel™, Sun Micro Systems Solaris™, OS/2™, BeOS™, Mach, Apache OpenStep™, or other operating system or platform. However, the variouscomponents of the present invention could also be implemented on aprogrammed general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, aprogrammed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integratedcircuit elements, an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a hardwiredelectronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, aprogrammable logic device such as a FPGA, PLD, PLA, or PAL, or the like.In general, any device on which a finite state machine capable ofimplementing the modules and control routines discussed above can beused to implement the present invention.

While the foregoing description includes many details and specificities,it is to be understood that these have been included for purposes ofexplanation only, and are not to be interpreted as limitations of thepresent invention. Many modifications to the embodiments described abovecan be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention, as is intended to be encompassed by the following claims andtheir legal equivalents.

1-14. (canceled)
 15. A computer-implemented method, comprising:receiving at a server from a client device a report request for a reportrelated to web site traffic; in response to the report request, sendingfrom the server web site traffic data and application code to the clientdevice, the application code comprising instructions that cause theclient device to: generate a report to display the web site trafficdata; time the display of the web site traffic data; periodicallyrequest updated web site traffic data according to the time of thedisplay; update the report with the updated web site traffic data; andsending from the server to the client device the updated web sitetraffic data in response to the request for updated web site trafficdata.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, furthercomprising: generating at the server the web site traffic data and theupdated web site traffic data, wherein the web site traffic data and theupdated web site traffic data each cause the client device to display aselectable graph depicting web site traffic parameter data; and whereinthe application code further comprises instructions that cause theclient device to generate, in response to a selection of a portionselectable graph corresponding to a point in time, a web site trafficparameter data request corresponding to a graphical depiction of the website traffic parameter data corresponding to the selected point in time.17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprisingsending from the server the web site traffic parameter data to theclient device in response to the web site traffic parameter datarequest.
 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein theweb site traffic parameter data comprises visitor monitor data, thevisitor monitor data including one or more of visitor data describingvisitors to a web site, a number page views of the web site, a number ofvisits to the web site, and a time length of visits to the web site. 19.The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the selectablegraph depicts one or more of the number of visitors to the web site, thenumber page views of the web site, and the time length of visits to theweb site.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein theapplication code further comprises instructions that cause the clientdevice to generate a visitor monitor report that displays the visitordata describing visitors to the web site and one or more of the numberpage views of the web site, the number of visits to the web site, andthe time length of visits to the web site.
 21. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 20, wherein the application code further comprisesinstructions that cause the client device to: request, in response to aselection of visitor data describing a visitor to the web site, visitorfootprint data related to the visitor, the visitor footprint dataincluding one or more of browser data, referral data, domain data andvisitor path data; and generate a visitor footprint report that displaysthe visitor footprint data.
 22. The computer-implemented method of claim18, further comprising: correlating in the server commercial transactiondata with the visitor monitor data; and generating return on investmentreporting data from the correlation of the commercial transaction datawith the visitor monitor data, the return on investment reporting datadefining one or more of an amount spent per domain and an amount spentper visitor; and wherein the application code further comprisesinstructions that cause the client device to generate a return oninvestment report from the return on investment reporting data, thereturn on investment report displaying one or more of the amount spentper domain and the amount spent per visitor.
 23. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the application code isJavaScript.
 24. A system, comprising: a data storage storing trafficinformation for a plurality of visitors to a web site; one or moreserver computers in data communication with the data storage, the one ormore server computers including application code and a reporting engine,wherein: the application code comprises instructions that cause a clientdevice to: generate a report to display web site traffic data; time thedisplay of the web site traffic data; periodically request updated website traffic data according to the time of the display; and update thereport with the updated web site traffic data; and the reporting engineis configured to generate the web site traffic data and the updated website traffic data.
 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the web sitetraffic data and the updated web site traffic data each cause the clientdevice to display a selectable graph depicting web site trafficparameter data; and wherein the application code further comprisesinstructions that cause the client device to generate, in response to aselection of a portion selectable graph corresponding to a point intime, a web site traffic parameter data request corresponding to agraphical depiction of the web site traffic parameter data correspondingto the selected point in time.
 26. The system of claim 25, wherein theweb site traffic parameter data comprises visitor monitor data, thevisitor monitor data including one or more of visitor data describingvisitors to a web site, a number page views of the web site, a number ofvisits to the web site, and a time length of visits to the web site. 27.The system of claim 26, wherein the selectable graph depicts one or moreof the number of visitors to a web site, the number page views of theweb site, and the time length of visits to the web site.
 28. The systemof claim 27, wherein the application code further comprises instructionsthat cause the client device to generate a visitor monitor report thatdisplays visitor data describing visitors to the web site and one ormore of the number page views of the web site, the number of visits tothe web site, and the time length of visits to the web site.
 29. Thesystem of claim 27, wherein the application code further comprisesinstructions that cause the client device to: request, in response to aselection of visitor data describing a visitor to the web site, visitorfootprint data related to the visitor, the visitor footprint dataincluding one or more of browser data, referral data, domain data andvisitor path data; and generate a visitor footprint report that displaysthe visitor footprint data.
 30. The system of claim 28, wherein thereporting engine is further configured to: correlate in the servercommercial transaction data with the visitor monitor data; and generatereturn on investment reporting data from the correlation of thecommercial transaction data with the visitor monitor data, the return oninvestment reporting data defining one or more of an amount spent perdomain and an amount spent per visitor; and wherein the application codefurther comprises instructions that cause the client device to generatea return on investment report from the return on investment reportingdata, the return on investment report displaying one or more of theamount spent per domain and the amount spent per visitor.